


Not A Night To Sleep Alone

by Kiraly



Category: Stand Still Stay Silent
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Gen, Platonic Bed-sharing, Platonic Cuddling, Post-Canon, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-05
Updated: 2017-03-05
Packaged: 2018-09-28 10:14:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10091420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiraly/pseuds/Kiraly
Summary: After the expedition, the crew has trouble sleeping alone.Clearly, the only solution is a cuddlepile.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for this week's Synchronised Screaming challenge - based on the prompt "SSSS character(s) - post-mission traumatic memories ft. hurt/comfort" I couldn't decide who should be comforting each other, so the folks in chat suggested...everyone. I couldn't refuse! :D
> 
> This...sort of skirts around the events of Chapter 13, but assume some miracle has happened and Tuuri is Fine.

Trolls flung themselves out of the darkness, one after another. No matter how many they shot, more rose to take their place. Emil had switched to his flamethrower, but they still weren’t beating back the tide. A troll lunged, nearly caught him with a claw, the world went up in flames—

Emil bolted upright, drenched in sweat and breathing hard. It was still dark, but there were no trolls, no fire. Just the sterile shadows of the room he’d been assigned at the base, cool and lonely. After so many months sharing a tiny living space with five other people and a cat, he hadn’t adjusted to sleeping by himself. At least he wasn’t  _ completely  _ alone, though.

“Miu?” Kissekatt roused from her nest of blankets, blinking. She padded closer, disregarding his grunt when she stepped somewhere sensitive. She settled on his chest to stare at him. A purr rumbled through her.

“Hey there.” He stroked her fur, letting her presence soothe his frazzled nerves. This wasn’t the first time she’d comforted him after a nightmare, and it probably wouldn’t be the last.

Just when Emil thought he could fall back asleep, something under the bed  _ moved.  _ He froze, his mind running through all the worst possibilities. A troll had gotten in. It was coming up through the floor, it would be here any second—no. The cat hadn’t reacted at all, she was still purring. Which meant—

“Lalli?” Even though he knew it couldn’t be a troll, Emil’s voice came out as a squeak. He peered over the edge. 

More rustling, then a shock of pale hair emerged from beneath the bed.

“How long have you been under there?” Emil asked. He hadn’t been there when Emil went to sleep, but Lalli was good at arriving unannounced, without waking him up. It wasn’t the first time this had happened, either.

Instead of answering, Lalli rolled out from under the bed and climbed onto it. Emil moved over to make room for him. “You could just start up here. You know I don’t mind,” he said. Lalli just grunted and wrapped himself in one of the blankets, curling up between Emil and the wall. Kissekatt lifted her head to greet him; he held out a finger for her to sniff. Apparently satisfied with the interaction, Lalli patted Emil’s head.

“Sleep,” he said. He tucked his head against Emil’s and closed his eyes.

Emil tried. He’d almost succeeded when someone tapped on the door.

“Mmm?” That must have been enough for whoever was outside, because the door cracked open and light spilled through.

“Emil? Sorry to bother you, but is Lalli—oh, good.” The silhouette in the door didn’t match the voice—Tuuri, but she was far too tall—oh. She entered the room, and Reynir came after her.

“Reynir was talking to Lalli in the dream world, and he just...disappeared,” Tuuri said, translating Reynir’s mumbled Icelandic. “He thought he must have woken up, but we just wanted to make sure. He wasn’t in his room.” No question about why Lalli was here; the same way Emil didn’t need to ask how Tuuri knew Reynir had woken up worried. Being safe and  _ believing  _ it were two entirely different things. They all had their own ways to cope.

“Well, he’s here, and he’s all right,” Emil said. Lalli muttered something in Finnish that seemed to back him up, because Tuuri visibly relaxed. And then, because it was that kind of night, Emil added, “Are you going back to your room, or are you staying?”

Tuuri whispered a translation to Reynir, who nodded. “Bad dreams too?” Tuuri asked, as they pulled the mattress off the extra bed. Emil scooped the cat up and roused Lalli enough to get theirs onto the floor, then went to the closet for more blankets.

“Yeah,” Emil said. “That night again.”

Tuuri nodded sympathetically. “Back to Saimaa for me, this time. I never used to dream about it, but...well.” She didn’t have to finish the sentence. After all she’d been through, it would have been more surprising if she  _ didn’t  _ have nightmares. She sighed, and Reynir wrapped an arm around her. Emil let her lean against his shoulder; Lalli had already resumed his position on Emil’s other side. When everyone was settled and blankets distributed, they quieted down. It was pretty nice, except—

“You forgot to close the door,” Emil muttered. The light was annoying, but he was too comfortable to move. Tuuri grunted and covered her eyes with her arm. Lalli snuggled deeper under the blanket; Reynir didn’t do anything, because he hadn’t understood what Emil said. Maybe if he said it louder? “Reynir, the door—”

“Don’t worry, I got it.” Another familiar face appeared in the doorway. “Quite the party in here! Why wasn’t I invited?”

“Didn’t know you were awake, Sigrun,” Emil said. 

“Eh. Call of nature and all that. Saw your door was open on the way back.” Sigrun walked over to the mattress, eyeing the group. “Soooo, are you gonna make a space for me, or do I have to lie on top of you?”

“Umm…” Before Emil could answer, Sigrun flopped herself down between him and Tuuri. Which meant mostly on top of them.

“Oww, Sigrun! I could have moved!” 

Tuuri and Emil both had to wriggle aside to get out from under her, which in turn disturbed Lalli and Reynir. Lalli growled, Reynir yawned, and the kitten walked across the line of bodies until Sigrun caught her and held her still. “None of that, you. Settle down or I’ll put you on the mutiny list.”

“If I’m on the mutiny list, will I be allowed to sleep in peace?” inquired a voice far deeper than the cat’s. “Couldn’t you choose a different room for this? Preferably one that isn’t next to mine?”

Sigrun made a rude noise. “But if we did that, you’d never come join us, grumpypants! Get in here, you know you want to.”

Mikkel sighed, but he came inside and closed the door behind him. “After sleeping on the floor for so many months, I don’t think you understand how much I appreciate my bed.”

“But you miss the company, don’t you?” Tuuri said. 

“Hmm.” Mikkel didn’t give any further answer, just found a blanket and lay down across the end of the mattresses. Sigrun put her feet on him. “I’m actually looking forward to going back to the farm,” he grumbled, “Where at least I get to sleep through the night.”

“Until the roosters wake you up, you mean,” Emil said. He didn’t know much about farms, but he was pretty sure there were roosters involved.

“And as long as one of your younger siblings doesn’t wake you up earlier,” Tuuri added.

“They know better,” Mikkel said. “Come visit, you’ll see.”

“I’ll take you up on that,” Sigrun said around a yawn, “Once I’ve had a chance to go home for a while. Convince the troops I’m still the most best captain, say hello to the parents. Kill some trolls.”

“Ugh. I’ve had enough of trolls for a while,” Emil said. “I’m going to...I don’t know, play with my cousins. Introduce Kissekatt to Bosse.”

“I’m going to read  _ so many books,”  _ Tuuri whispered. She sounded like she was falling asleep. “Maybe build a better tank. Hug my brother. Visit Reynir at mage school.”

“D’you think...Lalli will come visit me in Sweden?” Emil asked. Lalli was relaxed into sleep already. Emil wasn’t sure he wanted to go back to a life that didn’t include him.

“If you can get him to leave in the first place,” Sigrun said with a chuckle. “But there’s no point in worrying about it tonight. Get some sleep, little Viking. That’s an order.”

Surrounded by his friends, with the cat purring in his ear, Emil finally did.


End file.
